Three historic sources of information about quarrying in the region have also been summarised as pdf files
(John Farey 1811 and Robert Hunt 1858)
Download pdf Farey 1811
Download pdf Hunt 1858
Download pdf Quarries List 1897
For a link to the original references see list below. Graham Lott, of the British
Geological Survey, has produced a more recent list, which is also available online.

We have tried to locate many of these old quarries, and have given tentative grid references for some, based on
Ordnance Survey maps dating from the 1850s onwards. We have also endeavoured to provide the current names
for the geological Formations which were being worked. There are some inconsistencies in nomenclature,
notably with Farey's records of 1811, and we would welcome any additional information which readers may be able to supply.

The 1897 list of quarries in our region has been transcribed from the national list of Mines and Quarries held
at the Library of the British Geological Survey. It is included here as part of our developing research into
the local history of quarrying. Note that the boundaries of Derbyshire have changed since 1897. Entries
in this list are colour coded to show current administrative boundaries - Barnsley MBC pink, Doncaster
MBC orange, Rotherham MBC blue, Sheffield MBC grey. Some sites in Derbyshire are outside the remit of the
Sheffield Area Geology Trust and are left uncoloured.

Many of the buildings of Sheffield and its region are constructed from sedimentary rocks which crop
out within the region. These include:

Permian

Cadeby Formation

The dolomitic limestones (magnesian limestones or dolostones) of this formation crop out in a
narrow north to south strip that extends along the eastern margin of the west Yorkshire area,
forming a low topographical ridge marginal to the Vale of York. They have been quarried and
used extensively for building stone in many towns and villages, on and adjacent to, their
outcrop, e.g. churches and houses at Conisborough (also the prominent castle), Anston,
Maltby, Doncaster, High Melton,
Cadeby, Hooton Pagnell, Sherburn-in-Elmet, Ledsham, Clifford, Boston Spa, Wetherby etc.
Cadeby Formation limestones were used in the construction of Liverpool Lime Street Station
and in various warehouse and other buildings in Manchester and Sheffield. Quarries at North Anston
provided the stone for the Houses of Parliament, transported to the coast via the Chesterfield Canal.

Fine-grained limestone from quarries near Anston and Kiveton Park, operated by James Turner & Son,
was used in the construction of several important buildings in London, including the Houses of
Parliament, the Geological Museum, New Hall (Lincoln's Inn), the Record Office (Fetter Lane),
the Ordnance Office (Pall Mall), the flying buttresses at Westminster Abbey, and several other buildings.
Ref: Practical Masonry, by William Purchase, 1905.

Carboniferous - Pennine Coal Measures Group

A number of sandstones that are developed within the Coal Measures succession have been worked for local
building stone. The sandstones are generally finer - and more uniform than those from the Millstone Grit Group.

Upper Coal Measures Formation

In the uppermost part of the Coal Measures succession, the best known sandstones are the Ackworth,
Dalton, Wickersley and Ravenfield rocks. At Ackworth the buildings of the village and local farms
are all constructed of pale yellow-brown, (when weathered) fine-grained sandstone from the Ackworth
Rock. The Dalton Rock (aka Brierley Rock) was worked at Dalton, Brierley and Great Houghton for
building use in the nearby villages. The quarries in the Wickersley Rock, Rotherham were perhaps
more noted for their grindstone production for the Sheffield cutlery industry, but also produced
the building stone used in the older houses and walls at Wickersley.

St Aidan's Church, Wickersley

Middle Coal Measures Formation

Mexborough Rock

The Mexborough Rock, characterised by its distinctive purple-red colouration, was quarried and used
for building extensively at and around Darfield, Mexborough, Denaby, Hooton Roberts, Canklow.
The local church and houses at Hooton Roberts show the typical pale-purple coloration of this
sandstone (Rotherham Red), much of it produced from nearby quarries, of which one, Harris Quarry
near Ulley, is still active today. The sandstone was also used locally in houses, schools and
other buildings around Rotherham and Masborough (Hunt 1858).
1) Ulley Church - extension of the early 21C in Mexborough Rock from Harris Quarry
2) Ulley Church - weathering in Mexborough Rock, built c1852 (information from John Harris)

Ulley Church extension

Ulley Church weathering

Woolley Edge Rock

The Woolley Edge Rock was quarried at Woolley Edge and at other quarries in the Barnsley area. St Thomas' Church
at Worsborough sits on the outcrop of the Woolley Edge Rock, with a former quarry adjacent.

Oaks Rock

The Oaks Rock has been quarried at Barnsley and used locally.

Lower Coal Measures Formation

Crawshaw Sandstone

The Crawshaw Sandstone was extensively quarried near Crookes in the west of Sheffield
for building purposes. The buff coloured, medium-grained sandstone is a familiar
feature of many Sheffield buildings, notably a high proportion of the schools built
by the Sheffield School Board between 1870 and the First World War.

Greystones School, built 1904

Loxley Edge Rock

The Loxley Edge Rock varies in thickness and character along its outcrop and the very coarse
sandstone found on Loxley and Wadsley Commons features in a number of prominent buildings,
such as the former Royal Infirmary. Further south, in the Greystones area, it is finer-grained,
less massive and more flaggy, and was only worked for local building stone, where it is a common
feature of garden walls etc.

House on Haugh Lane with local sandstone and stone slates, probably 18th Century

Green Moor Rock

The Green Moor Rock (or Brincliffe Edge Rock) and Grenoside Sandstone
were particularly significant sources of stone for highway engineering, such
as paving stone, kerbs and gutters. Much stone was regularly exported by water
transport from the quarries at Greenmoor itself to London, (where it is
referred to as "York Stone"), as well as being widely used within
the region. Stone from Brincliffe Edge and Psalter Lane was used in local
buildings as well as in gravestones and grindstones. These units are mostly
fine-grained, uniform sandstones.

Brincliffe Towers - former nursing home, built of Greenmoor Rock from Brincliffe
Edge, with a slate roof, built around 1860.

Silkstone Rock

Silkstone Rock - used for supporting the railway cutting on the north side
of Sheffield Station (from where it was excavated). Many quarries in the
Silkstone Rock, such as that at Arbourthorne, supplied readily trimmed,
fine-grained sandstone for local use. The Shrewsbury "Hospital" was
built with rock from Claywood Quarry just across the road.
Silkstone Rock was also favoured by scythe makers for sharpening stones.
Bramley Moor Quarry near Eckington was probably the only operation of any
scale, with Staniforth's sickle manufactory being located at Troway nearby.

The chapel at the Shrewsbury Almshouses, built in 1825 from Silkstone Rock but partly
re-faced in finer grained sandstone in the 1990s.

Parkgate Rock

The Parkgate Rock was worked in the Grimesthorpe area of Sheffield and the Park Hill
Quarries supplied paving, channel & kerb stones for Sheffield's streets throughout
much of the 19th century.

Sandstone setts and kerbs - origin of stone uncertain

Millstone Grit Group

All the principal sandstone beds of the Millstone Grit Group have been extensively quarried.

Rough Rock

The Rough Rock is the most constant and uniform of all the Millstone Grit sandstones in South and West
Yorkshire. The sandstones are generally coarse-grained and strongly cross-bedded in the south
of the region, but less coarse in the Huddersfield area. The quarries in
Rough Rock at Crosland Hill are regarded as the principal source of building stone for Huddersfield
town and were used in major structures such as the Lockwood Viaduct (1846). Most recently in Sheffield,
Rough Rock Stone was used to construct the sculptured planters placed in Tudor Square, which are supposed to
represent giant seed pods. The sandstone pavings in the Peace Gardens are of Rough Rock "Rockingstone",
shot-sawn to create a non-slip surface.
Within the Sheffield area the Rough Rock was quarried for building stone at Tapton Hill and Basset Brown Edge.
"Stone slates" were worked at Brown Edge, near Ringinglow in the 19th Century.
These are a local, thinly-bedded variety of this stone, capable of being split into thin sheets.

Tudor Square planter (Photo: J. Hunter)

Chatsworth Grit (or Rivelin Grit)

The Chatsworth Grit has only a restricted outcrop to the west of Sheffield, nevertheless, a number
of local quarries, notably in the Rivelin Valley, supplied this stone for many of Sheffield's sandstone buildings. The unit was also
worked extensively at Burbage Rocks, Millstone Edge and Houndkirk Moor for millstones.
Examples of prominent buildings probably constructed from Chatsworth Grit include the Gatehouses of the General
Cemetery and the Botanical Gardens. It is a coarse, or very coarse sandstone with angular grains, and usually
contains some feldspar among the quartz grains.

Gatehouse, Botanical Gardens (Photo: A. Hunter)

Ashover Grit

The Ashover Grit is extensively worked to the south of Sheffield and stone from Birchover, Stanton Moor
and Stancliffe is being used in the city centre, e.g. in Orchard Square (1980s), Sheffield
Law Courts (combined with pink Shap Granite) and for repair work on Sheffield Cathedral
(note new pinnacles). It is mostly a medium-grained sandstone, with sub-angular grains.

Sheffield Cathedral

Kinderscout Grit

The Kinderscout Grit is the oldest of the major Millstone Grit sandstone beds and forms the extensive
and often inaccessible area of the Kinder Scout - Bleaklow moors. It tends to be a very coarse
and hard sandstone, which makes it less useful as a building stone. One of the quarries which has worked the
Kinderscout Grit since 1835,is at Stoke Hall, near Grindleford, where the stone is a more uniform, medium-grained
sandstone which can be shaped in any direction, i.e. it is a 'freestone'.
This quarry supplied the stone used to construct Sheffield's Town Hall, which was officially
opened by Queen Victoria in 1897. An extension built with the same material was opened by the Prince
of Wales in 1923. The sculptures and balustrades in the adjoining Peace Gardens were installed in the
1990s using matching stone from the same quarry, which is still operating.